Code: Janika
by Janika
Summary: A long time ago there was another member of the group...but she left against her will. For the first time in almost a year she's finally able to visit Kadic, and it just HAPPENS to be on the same day Jeremy plans to activate the multi-agent system.
1. Homecoming

**Chapter 1: Homecoming**

Janika shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably to get used to the weight of the heavy backpack. All the rest of her things had been taken beforehand, leaving only a few odds and ends for her to carry herself.

She turned to look at Odd and Aelita. They were the only ones she asked to come with her to the bus stop, so she'd said her goodbyes to the others earlier that day.

"I was hoping this day would never come," she muttered to herself. "Looks like it was a pointless hope."

"We'll keep in contact," Aelita assured her with a smile. "I'll e-mail you to let you know what's going on, and so will Odd. _Right?_"

She nudged the boy and he jumped a little as though being jolted out of his own thoughts. "Y-Yeah! I wouldn't dream of not…doing…that…?" he trailed off, looking helplessly at his pink-haired friend.

"E-mailing her, Odd."

His confusion cleared and he looked relieved. "Oh, of course! Why wouldn't I?"

Janika threw him a sly grin. "Maybe because you're so easily distracted and forgetful."

"Not _all the time_," he defended himself.

"Odd, you forgot I was leaving today. How does _that_ speak for you and your memory?"

"It's only one example."

She was about to start listing off another ten cases from that week alone when the slow, heavy sound of a bus approaching caught her attention. She could see it turning the corner and coming toward them. The girl couldn't help tugging on the end of her braid as she looked once more at her two friends.

"I don't know what's going to happen now and I don't know when I'll be able to come back, but…" She didn't know what else to say. How could she promise anything if she couldn't even control what school she attended?

Aelita seemed to understand, patting her friend's arm as the bus came to an ear-piercing halt in front of them. "It's been a good year. Come back when you can."

"I'll try. Bye, guys."

She paused there as though waiting for something while the bus door slid open behind her and several people got off. Janika gave a beaten sigh and started to step toward the bus.

Odd grabbed the edge of her blue jean jacket. "Hey! You'll be a lot safer than we will from now on. Try not to get too serious while you're away, though."

The girl couldn't help cracking another smile. "That won't be a problem. All I have to do is think of you and your goofy outfit. With that kind of reminder I'm not so sure it's even possible to be serious at all!"

%*% 11 months, 1 week, 2 days, and 12 hours later %*%

Janika slid down and kicked at the seat in front of her. The passenger sitting there turned around and asked her to stop or else she would find herself minus a limb or two.

"Well, _reer!_" she rolled her eyes but sat up and looked out the bus window.

Somehow this trip just reeked of déjà vu. Ever since she was forced to return home and abandon her friends at Kadic, it seemed like they had gone out of their way to keep her out of the loop.

As promised, Aelita had been nice enough to send her updates occasionally, but she had to speak in code just in case someone else got their hands on the emails. In that way she was able to keep on top of everything going on with them, but she hardly had anything to share from her end.

Jeremy sent her some of his incomplete work when she asked if there was any way to help, so she'd been able to finish some of the programs for him—things like minor improvements on the vehicles, shortcuts to make manipulation on Lyoko quicker and simpler from the computer, and even an untested project on energy-thievery. It helped her feel less "left out" but not much.

As for Odd…if she received anything once a month from him she was surprised. And maybe it was because of that very lack of communication that made Janika mad enough to not let them know she was visiting.

Even though she was far away, the super-computer's effects still caught her unawares. It was actually more than a little annoying having to relive things. Especially gym class…

She got off the bus, heart pounding. One look around told her the others hadn't gotten the whiff of a clue that she would be showing up from her last few emails. In a way she was relieved, but in another way it just made this trip that much harder.

It wasn't until she was at the school that her courage flagged. The moment she saw Odd and Ulrich with Yumi by the soda machines she froze, not sure what to do. Thankfully the choice was taken away from her.

"Janika, is that you?" She spun around to see her pink-haired friend smiling at her. "It _is_ you! Why didn't you tell us you were coming to town?"

Just then the others caught sight of them and Janika couldn't help feeling like she wanted to run the other direction. Instead she smiled. "Hi, guys! Been a long time."

"_I'll_ say!" Odd laughed. "Almost a year now."

She didn't say anything for a moment. He acted so…laid back? His relaxed manner was so natural that it made her more nervous than ever.

There was a short conversation with them all in which she made some excuse about wanting to surprise everyone and not meaning to make them change plans just for her. Inside she cringed at the hollowness of her words, but the truth was that she no longer felt as though she was part of the gang.

"Can you join us for breakfast?" Aelita invited.

"Um, I'm not sure if that's allowed. I'm not a student here anymore."

"Sure it is!" Odd said as he took her hand, dragging her toward the cafeteria. "And if we can't get you anything I'll go back for seconds and give you that."

She couldn't hide a smirk. "Somehow I get the feeling if you get more food it won't make it to me. Seriously, though, I'm fine. I had some bagels earlier. If you don't mind, I'll just sit with you guys."

They continued their conversation as they entered the cafeteria and luckily Jim wasn't around or else there would have been some annoying repercussions. She looked around for Jeremy and though he wasn't around she saw William heading toward them. He stopped by their table and Janika could almost feel everyone grow tense.

"Can I join you?" The others looked at one another with edginess and William's eyes turned cold. "Fine. I know where I'm not wanted," he said stalking off to another table.

Janika looked at them reproachfully. "What was that about? I thought you said he was fine now."

Surprisingly it was Yumi who answered, "Yeah, but he was XANA's underling for months. He fought us and more than once it was his fault we nearly failed missions."

"But he's never devirtualized Janika. She doesn't really have a reason to be mad at him like we do," Odd put in.

She still looked disapproving. "But that's no longer the case. He's back to his old self and he's trying to make up for it. Why are you holding it against him?"

There was a brief moment when it seemed like Yumi and Ulrich were going to explode, but then Aelita looked down.

"Oh, Jeremy's calling me. Yes?" Her face went into semi-shock. "My _father_ contacted you? Of course! Yes, we'll meet you in the park." She hung up and looked at her friends exultantly. "He thinks my father might be able to help us defeat XANA. He's asked us to be at the factory in fifteen minutes."

"Is he sure it's Hopper?" Ulrich wondered.

"He said he'll explain on the way."

"Well then what are we waiting here for? Let's go!" Odd said standing up.

As he passed behind Janika his fingers brushed her arm in a way she knew wasn't accidental. She pretended to be busy making sure her purse was closed to hide the smile she was trying to bite back. One thing home just couldn't replicate was Odd, and she could never bring herself to ask him about their relationship, so the possibility that he didn't care for her as much as he did a year ago haunted her all the time. The scarce emails he sent also gave her that impression, but…

Maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought.

They left, but Janika shot a look back at William. His eyes followed them and she knew instinctively that he felt she was trying to replace him. That guilty feeling clung to her as she trailed behind the others.

When they found Jeremy in the bushes he jerked back in surprise on seeing Janika. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood," she shrugged. "Can I help?"

"Well…we've been able to hold our own up to this point, but—" He cut off because just then someone else joined them.

William skidded to a stop and asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, we're fine," Jeremy said little too quickly.

"Hey, I've got a bone to pick with him too!" he insisted.

All of them looked at one other nervously. Janika knew she hadn't been as close to the action or the danger, but it seemed unfair to keep him away especially since he wanted to help badly enough.

"Why don't you give him a chance?" she asked.

The response was immediate and Janika realized she should have just kept her mouth shut. Jeremy's eyes went hard and he thrust a finger at William.

"This operation is delicate enough without having to worry about him. Once he succumbed to XANA's control it made him susceptible. Right now it's only a danger to the rest of us to have him around the factory."

William jerked his head toward Janika. "What about her? Is she going along with you?"

The dark-haired girl closed her eyes, wishing he hadn't said it out loud. The answer to that was obvious before she even showed up in town.

"Well, we might need her," Odd suggested.

"The last time she fought on Lyoko was almost a year ago," Yumi reasoned. "This mission is too important and she's definitely out of practice."

The girl being discussed suddenly looked at them and said, "Don't you guys realize you're on a time-table? You can't keep wasting time bickering about whether or not William and I should tag along. If you need us you'll let us know. Now get going!"

With a few words of farewell the gang disappeared into the trees, leaving the other two standing at the edge of the park. William turned to her angrily.

"Why didn't you fight?" he demanded.

"What good would it have done? Do you really think insisting on my right to be in the club would have convinced them to let me go too? They would have been more anxious about having me there than ever, and that doesn't exactly add to the level of trust between all of us."

He folded his arms but didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Fine, but what about me?"

"What _about_ you?"

"Do you think I'm 'susceptible'?"

"I'm no genius when it comes to those things. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. But it's really not _your_ call. You were invited into the gang, not pressured. Don't turn it around and act like they owe you."

For the first time William looked less upset and more thoughtful. He stuck his hands into his pockets and walked slowly toward the campus exit. Janika glanced back at the undergrowth of the park and then walked after him.

"Do you want to get an orange soda or something?"

"Sure," he replied in a kinder tone.

**For those of you who have read all 11 episodes of my Code: Lyoko series, this will be the official last story. I was going over summaries of the episodes online, and when I came to the final one I accidentally mis-read it. From that mistake this story just fleshed itself out until I had my own version of what XANA's demise **_**should**_** have been like.**


	2. Ambush

**Chapter 2: Ambush**

No one said anything as they made their way through the sewers. It wasn't until they were all packed in the elevator that Odd finally spoke up. "Y'know, we didn't have to do that."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What makes you think it was a simple decision?" Jeremy demanded.

Yumi added, "Both Janika and William could be problems for us. Who knows if she can fight anymore and he doesn't hardly remember anything. They'd just burden us."

Ulrich gave a confused grunt. "Wait, did it ever occur to anyone that we might be doing it for the wrong reason?"

"Ulrich, it's true," Jeremy said. "Logically, inviting them here could be suicide."

"Okay, okay, I get that and I would have agreed with you _if_ Janika hadn't shown up. Maybe it's because I don't feel the same way about her that I do about William, but it just seems like we went out of our way to make sure they knew we didn't want them at the factory."

Aelita was silent the whole time and didn't say a word one way or the other. Jeremy cleared his throat and muttered that they should save worrying about the others for later. By then the door to the lab opened and they rushed across to the computer. The pink-haired girl stared over her friend's shoulder as he opened up the program.

"Looks like it really is your father, Aelita. He's sending a signal to us from the Ice Sector. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said a little breathlessly.

They hurried downstairs, but even as they stood waiting to step into the scanners no words passed between them. Yumi cast a glare at Ulrich and Odd, but Odd was the only one who returned the look. The other boy wouldn't even meet her eyes.

%*%

Less than a minute later they were standing on a frozen landscape. They started toward the coordinates Jeremy had given, but as he was monitoring their progress a new window appeared on the screen.

"Guys, Hopper just sent me a message. He had to move because that place wasn't secure enough. He's now about eighty meters southeast toward a large glacier. It's not far but I can get you the vehicles if you need them."

"It's alright, Jeremy," Aelita said before the others could give their opinions. She seemed so eager and yet afraid.

The others didn't say anything but they turned away from the iceberg and its waterfall, taking off at a run for a nearby mountain. When the Warriors were nearly there, the computer's operator suddenly focused on a blip the screen seemed to be experiencing. There was a cave where Hopper was hiding but the angle prevented his instruments from seeing clearly inside.

His friends were nearly there by the time he managed to adjust the computer's rotation enough to view it well enough. The signals that popped up were such a surprise that for an instant he could hardly say anything more than, "Stop! Stop!"

But the monsters were already spilling out of the entrance. Every one of them was a Scyphozoa, and as the Warriors began to use their assorted weapons more started virtualizing out of the air around them.

Aelita skidded to a stop and gaped as the monsters came floating forward. "But how? There's only _one_ Scyphozoa!"

"Princess," Odd warned as he raised his glove and took aim, "I would suggest you simply deal with the problem instead of analyzing it right now."

Yumi's fans went spinning in two directions, severing at least four of the jellyfish's arms but not dispatching any. As she was leaping up to catch her first fan, one monster grabbed her from behind. The other whirling disc came back, slicing into the face of the one holding her. It almost staggered back and then exploded, but before she dropped to the icy ground another Scyphozoa nabbed her.

Odd's arrows were having just about the same effect. One monster died and then two more took its place. Ulrich's speed and twin sabers kept him from the noose until he was surrounded by more than he could kill off, then their tentacles were wrapped around him before he knew it.

Aelita threw out her energy fields as fast as she could, but the creatures never seemed to get any fewer. One wrapped its coils around her from the side and she glanced at the others, hoping one of them would attack her captor—but all three of her friends were ensnared and unable to look away from the creatures now combing through their minds…

%*%

Jeremy wasn't sure what to do on his end. His fingers flew over the keyboard while he desperately searched for some way to combat all the Scyphozoas' effects. How had XANA been able to get so many? Maybe it had something to do with the other supercomputers he controlled…

The computer genius was so busy that he didn't notice the warning that a tower on Lyoko itself had been activated. A minute later the sound of the elevator moving upward made him pause. In a flash he knew it had to be a surprise of XANA's and he opened the multi-agent system's program.

"Sorry, Franz Hopper," he said quickly as the program underwent a sudden encryption, "but I'm not so sure I can deal with this on my own. It looks like you might have to wait a while longer."

He hit the recording program and spoke as quickly as he could. Maybe by some miracle Janika and William would come…because the possibility that he would get away scott free was slim at this point. He'd taken too long here and the others were definitely not coming to his aid this time.

The door slid open and a floating creature entered the room, tentacles waving menacingly. Jeremy threw himself out of his chair and ran to the far side where the other exit was. However, the Scyphozoa was much quicker. He had hardly climbed the first few rungs of the ladder when he was yanked off and—

%*%

The two missing Lyoko Warriors had finished their orange sodas and were talking about less life-threatening topics as they crossed campus when a startled cry interrupted their conversation. They looked up at the same time and both went rigid.

William gripped Janika's arm and started dragging her in the opposite direction from the jellyfish-monster that had come out from behind the dorm building. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be anywhere worth running.

"That's the football field!" she yelled. She risked a glance back and gasped. "Omigosh! That thing is _not_ slow at all! It's going to catch us before we make it far!"

With that in mind, they made a sharp turn and cut straight toward the French literacy building. Janika's short-sleeve jacket flapped wildly, its little buttons slapping her arms as she ran, but the adrenaline rush hardly seemed to allow her to notice such minor pinpricks.

They burst through the door and slammed it shut behind them, breathing hard and looking around to see if anyone was in sight. A couple students down the hallway looked their direction but didn't seem too startled. Most of them didn't even bother to glance over as they continued their conversations.

Janika peeked out the door's little window. "William, it's gone! I know it was right on our tails when we were running, but now it's—"

She hardly had time to say that much when there was the sound of breaking glass. All the oblivious students suddenly grew alarmed and started screaming when tentacles came creeping into the hall from the library.

William yanked open the door to head back outside but then shut it again, his face white. "There's another Scyphozoa about ten meters away!"

"So XANA sent at least two of them after us," she called as they ran along with the other students. She pulled to a sudden halt and pointed towards the stairwell. "That way!"

They barreled up, hardly pausing for breath until they made it to the second floor. There at the head of the first set of stairs they took great gulps of air, hoping the creature had lost them during the turmoil.

A strange warbling noise echoed from downstairs and they froze. The sound grew louder and the end of a tentacle crept around the corner of the stairs below them. William took off, taking the steps two at a time to the third floor, and even then he didn't stop until he had made it all the way to the roof.

Janika was slower, but she was still there beside him in less than a minute. She shut the door and looked around for something to jam it with, but the building's roof was bare.

"This is no place to hide for long. I don't know if that thing can open doors, but this only locks from the inside. We're sitting ducks out here unless—William?"

For the first time she realized how pale he was and that he seemed to be so tense that he was shuddering. His eyes were wide and he had backed to the farthest corner of the roof, as far as he could get from the door.

"Hey, look at me." She waited until he did. "What's wrong? I've never seen one of those Skippos or whatever. What kind of monster is it that it scares you so much?"

"It can make you do anything—things you would never do! It takes hold of your mind and makes you think things are different. You believe it and you never question what it tells you." He said each sentence in a short gasp and at the end he closed his eyes, putting one hand to his head. "It went through my memories until it knew all my weaknesses… It broke my mind to pieces so that I could never put anything together long enough to think what I wanted… And XANA used everything against my friends!"

Janika finally remembered what the others had told her about the Scyphozoa. It hadn't seemed that dangerous to her, especially since it had no real weapons…but William seemed to think it was the most horrible thing he'd ever seen. She looked out over the edge of the building for the second one, but didn't see it. Most likely it was inside looking for them too.

"William, those things float, right?"

"Yeah."

"How high?"

"Just above the ground, I think. Maybe a little higher."

She cast one more look over the side and bit her lip. The ground was really far away and she wasn't sure if… "I really hope you're right because that's what I'll be counting on if those things manage to find us up he—"

She might not have even bothered to say anything. At that moment there was a jiggling noise and the door was pushed open. They stared at the monster and it stared back.

**It always confused me the way XANA would only ever use one Zoa even though he had practically unlimited resources once he escaped Lyoko. And it's also funny the way even though its target is right smack-dab in the middle of its oversized head, none of the gang is ever able to kill it. Weird.**


	3. Close Encounter

**Chapter 3: Close Encounter**

The Scyphozoa opened the door, tentacles waving eagerly as it glided out onto the rooftop toward its two victims. Janika couldn't help shuddering more than a little herself. There was just something eerily creepy about this thing.

"Don't move a muscle!" she said to William in a low tone as she shrugged one arm out of her jacket, but he probably wouldn't have been able to move even if she'd told him to.

The girl got her jacket off and threw it at the monster as it came in range. One tentacle whipped up to bat it away, then it lunged. Before it could reach them, Janika had grabbed William from behind and tipped over backwards off the rooftop! The monster practically pounced after them, only to find itself falling downward.

Whether its anti-gravity abilities were somehow altered in the real world or whether they were limited to a foot above a solid surface to begin with, the jellyfish most certainly fell four stories to the ground, smashed into many pieces, and did not get up again.

However, William and Janika were having a much different experience. As soon as her jacket was off, the girl's secret escape plan was revealed: five pairs of gossamer-type wings fluttered, keeping them both from plummeting down too. That didn't mean it was easy, by any account. She struggled to keep from descending too rapidly, but the best she could do was slow them down and not much else. It was hard enough to fly alone, which made it pretty close to impossible while carrying someone heavier than herself.

The monster nearly caught them as it fell, but she managed to flutter out of reach as it rushed past. They still landed with more than a little bump but at least they were alive.

William sat on the ground, his eyes darting between the dead Scyphozoa and Janika's wings. He opened his mouth to voice the question but she held up a hand to stop him.

"There's not enough time for the whole story, so let me just say it was a Lyoko-related accident and leave it at that." She whipped out her cell phone as she pulled him up and took off running for the woods. "C'mon, Jeremy…pick up, pick up!" There was no answer and she gave an irritated noise.

William had looked back at the remains of the creature and noted, "It's much smaller than it is in Lyoko. They're usually more than twice my height, but that one was just a little taller than us."

"XANA must have made an adjustment, probably because it couldn't have been materialized in the scanner if it was any bigger."

"Don't forget there's still another Scyphozoa is still here at school," William reminded her. "Should we get the others first and then go after it?"

"I hardly know anything about those monsters. XANA updated his army after I left, remember? Well, maybe you don't. Anyway I don't know how to handle them and I know how you feel about it, so we'd better go find the others right now."

The boy stiffened even though he knew she was simply stating a fact, not trying to jab at him and his reaction to the monsters. He managed to say nothing as they found the entrance to the sewers. There weren't any extra skateboards, so they had to hoof it on their own.

"Hey, if you can fly why aren't you doing it now?"

"I don't want to leave you behind. It isn't really that polite, plus I have no clue what kind of attack XANA is planning. I'd rather not be separated from you right now."

William's curiosity simply kept pestering him. "What do you do when you go swimming?"

"Never wear a bikini."

"But don't you ever take your jacket off when it's hot?"

"I just make sure to wear a shirt that doesn't have any wing-holes in it. I can lay them flat against my body like this."

It was hard to tell in the shadowy sewers, but the gossamer gleam seemed to curl around her torso so that it looked like a decoration on her shirt. She kept them that way the rest of the trip, likely because that was their usual position.

By then the two had reached the end of the tunnel and saw a scooter alongside three skateboards. Apparently the others were still there at the factory. William clambered up the ladder first and got out, then turned around to give Janika a hand. As he pulled her up, there was laughter behind them.

"That's really gross, you two," Aelita said, her face pinched in disgust. "I can understand making out behind the gym, but the _sewers?_"

She and all the others were standing a few feet away just outside the fence of the factory. Janika ran over but the locked gate was between them. "What happened with Hopper? William and I got attacked at the school by one of XANA's monsters and you didn't even warn us. Did something go wrong?"

There was a moment of silence and then the boys exchanged mischievous looks.

"Of course not," Ulrich said in slow, almost sarcastic voice.

"The monsters are right where we left them," Odd grinned.

"Yeah, they're set up to attack anyone who trespasses," Jeremy played along, giving a snicker – very much unlike him.

Yumi and Aelita still were focusing more on the fact that the two of them had just been inside a sewer. The Japanese girl cringed away, "Seriously, why don't you go take a bath or something?"

William seemed to catch on quicker than his companion. "You guys don't remember anything? What about XANA and Lyoko?"

The five now appeared to be trying very hard not to laugh.

Janika couldn't help giving it a try. "What about that Scyphozoa that attacked us? You know, that creepy thing that hovers above the ground with all the tentacles?"

William touched her arm and shook his head slightly. The dark-haired girl looked back at her friends and only saw skepticism and ridicule in their faces. Without bothering to say anything else, they turned away and ran across the bridge toward the factory.

"XANA must have done something to make them lose their memories. I'll wager it has something to do with the Scyphozoas—but if so, why wouldn't he brainwash them into his own warriors the way he did with me?"

Janika was running down the stairs beside him. "Wait, I think I know why! What better way to get them out of his hair? If they can't remember anything, they'd have no reason or way to fight him."

"But what about you and me?"

"I get the feeling he hasn't forgotten us, so we'd better be careful. We've got to get to the lab and find out what's going on."

They went over to the elevator and pushed the button to call it up. William was keeping an eye on all the dark spaces around the main room where any nasty surprises might be hiding, but just as the elevator pulled up he wondered why it was down a level if the whole gang was gone.

"I think—"

At that very moment the panel slid open and a pair of tentacles whipped out! Janika was in the air in an instant, her wings carrying her out of range. Her friend had slipped behind the elevator and was pressed flat against it, terror all over his face.

The creature floated forward but seemed to give up on Janika. It waved its arms about as though scenting the air. It would find William if she didn't find a way to stop it! The girl saw some old bars and strips of sharp metal on the upper level of the factory. Zooming over, she grabbed one bar and took a deep breath.

This particular trick she discovered quite by accident several months ago when she was sick with a cold and coughing up enough phlegm to fill a milk jug. The back of her throat started tickling maddeningly and then the next thing she knew, there was green acid eating through her Kleenex. Attempting to explain to her mother why the wicker wastebasket by her bed (and everything in it) had partially disintegrated was very difficult. Apparently she'd gotten more from being turned into a Hornet than just the wings.

The acid started to melt the end of the bar where she'd spat and she immediately mashed one of the jagged metal pieces to it. When the stuff dried after a few seconds, she had a short but effective spear.

Down below, the Scyphozoa had located William when he bolted for better cover. It was nearly on him when she attacked from behind, slicing into the almost-clear globe of its head. There was a crack and electric sparks, but then before she could so much as think, the weapon was knocked from her hands and the creature's coils wrapped around her like vines.

Janika uttered a scream and tried to struggle, but three of its tentacles poised around her head and she lost control over her muscles. Her eyes went blank as the monster began to attack her mind.

Suddenly there was a battle cry from behind as William leaped off the top of the elevator directly onto the Scyphozoa. Janika's makeshift spear pierced the target on the 'face' and it shuddered in midair, dropping its prisoner just before it exploded.

William pushed himself up from the floor. "As I was trying to say earlier, I think the elevator would be the perfect place to set a trap for us."

She sat up, rubbing her arms as though cold. "Now I understand why you acted the way you did back at school. That thing was—ugh!" Her eyes closed in an effort to push the unpleasant experience away. "Thank you for saving me, William."

He shrugged. "When I saw it attacking you I was able to do something. Good thing you had that weapon. Should we go downstairs?"

The lab looked the same as always. Nothing seemed to be wrong but as they approached the computer, Janika saw that there was a recording running. She stopped it and then played it back from the beginning.

Jeremy's terrified face stared out at them. "XANA knew we were meeting Hopper. The others have all been caught by Scyphozoas and won't respond to me. I have to be quick because I don't know what he's planning. I've encoded the multi-agent system but it can be unlocked and decrypted if Janika puts her name into—"

His eyes darted left and instantly his face went white. He was out of the chair and running as he shouted, "Power, any power!"

The Scyphozoa glided after him quickly outside the recording's range. Less than a minute later, Jeremy walked calmly across the room toward the elevator (though his eyes didn't appear to focus on anything), followed closely by XANA's robot.

There was nothing else on the video worth watching so Janika pushed stop. "Well, that confirms the Scyphozoas are responsible for their behavior. Do you think they might have left some…uh, subliminal commands just in case something happened once they were outside the factory?"

William shrugged uncertainly. The girl looked at the screen again and noticed there were two different messaging windows—both from Franz Hopper. One of them had to be a ruse by XANA.

She closed her eyes, thinking hard. There had to be a way to figure out which one was the real professor… What had Aelita told her about him? Not much, of course, but there had to be something Hopper knew that XANA didn't. Her eyes snapped open. "I've got it!"

She typed the same sentence into both boxes and waited for a response. William looked over her shoulder. "Huh? _'Oh, shall I tell you, Mama?'_ What's that about?"

Janika grinned and gave him a wink. "You'll see."

There was an immediate response from one of them. "_What causes my torment?_"

"Yes! I've got a lock on the real Franz Hopper!" She typed busily into the box. "I'm asking if he can meet us in a different place. XANA has Scyphozoas crawling everywhere in the Ice Sector."

"But how did you know that was him?"

"Aelita told me about that song her father always played on his piano. Those are the opening lyrics. XANA isn't much of one for nursery rhymes, it seems. But he knows we're here so we'd better get ourselves to Lyoko before he tries to send us a larger welcoming committee."

He went over to the panel in the floor and peeked through. "All clear. If he did materialize more Zoas, they're not here."

"He'll meet us in the Desert Sector. Just a minute…it's been forever since I've done this. Got it! The timer for the scanners is running so let's get down there."

They climbed down the ladder and rushed to the scanners. Janika couldn't help feeling nervous. For the first time in a year she would be on Lyoko. Hopefully she hadn't lost all her skills.

**I always wondered what the deal was with the little "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" ditty. Of course, even knowing the original lyrics doesn't help understand it either or why it was used for Aelita's father. As far as I can tell it's just some little kid whining about not being able to do what they want.**


	4. Meet the Old Man

**Chapter 4: Meet the Old Man**

Less than a minute later they were hovering over the Desert's terrain. As they landed, the Overbike and Overwing appeared.

She looked down at herself and noticed some differences right away. The fur of her cheetah-skin was a much brighter orange than she remembered and her halter-top was dark blue, extending down into a short skirt, underneath which was a pair of skintight black shorts. Her boots were the same except for three black buckles keeping them tight against her ankles.

"Well, at least the update didn't turn me into a horse," she grinned.

She would have made a few more comments except that their goal at that moment was to find the man responsible for the supercomputer—and ultimately for XANA's existence.

William was on the Overbike before his companion had a chance to look around. "Man, I always wanted to use this thing! Uh, you won't tell Ulrich, will you?"

"I don't think he'll mind much in his current state. We don't have Jeremy to guide us, so we'll have to go by landmarks. Hopper said he would be in a canyon hidden by the outcropping over there, I think."

While she was getting onto the Overwing William looked at her with confusion. "You don't have your wings!"

She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I can't control when I do and don't have them, okay? This is my virtual profile. Now are we going or what?"

The hot landscape was empty, but Janika was sure XANA was already trying to track them. They made it to the canyon without incident and looked around expectantly. For a few moments there was nothing, but then a glowing ball of light came floating out of a crevice and stopped a few paces from them.

"Are you Hopper?"

The ball drifted closer until it was just a hand-span from her face. Not sure if she was doing the right thing, Janika reached out and pressed her palm against it. A tingle of electricity went along her limbs but she heard—or rather _felt_—a voice.

_Without her memories, Aelita is no longer able to access the Towers in Lyoko. I could do nothing, and now I have no choice but to ask the two of you for help._

"That's not a problem. What do we have to do?"

_As you know, Jeremy synthesized most of the algorithm but before I could give him the data he needed, he had to encrypt it. If you could find out where it is and how to decode it I will give you the key to destroying XANA once and for all._

"Sure, but he didn't give us any clues. The Scyphozoa caught him before he could say anything other than that I had to put my name somewhere and that it needed power. There were no files open or anything on the computer. I was hoping you might be able to point us in the right direction."

Before the glowing ball could answer, a laser buried itself in the wall over them. William and Janika ducked as more shots were fired and Hopper quickly drifted farther into the shelter of the canyon.

"Tarantulas!" William yelled as his broadsword appeared out of the air. He used it to block more shots from the creature that was more like a lizard than a spider. "It looks like XANA located us. We'd better get out of here if we want to keep from getting devirtualized."

Janika looked back and saw that an army was appearing out of the air around them. Every few seconds more monsters would take form and drop to the earth.

She summarized their problem: "Unless we find a place to defend ourselves fast, we're dead."

%*%

Meanwhile the rest of the gang made their way back to school. They were late for the morning's classes already, but for some reason that didn't seem very pressing while they discussed the appearance of their friends—and their obvious lunacy. Odd was the only one who had stopped making fun of the pair as soon as the factory was out of sight. He seemed troubled and kicked rocks until Ulrich nudged him.

"Are you upset that she was with William?"

He shrugged but refused to say anything on the subject. Yes, she'd been gone for a long time, but earlier when he brushed against her arm to let her know he missed her…why hadn't she looked at him? She'd kept her head down as though ashamed. Was that because she already had feelings for William? Maybe he _should_ have emailed a little more often.

They were just entering the campus when a host of screams from a nearby building disrupted the peaceful picture. An entire floor of classes spilled out into the court as a _thing_ chased them.

All five students stared at the creature as it followed one group of fleeing children and then changed direction to go after more of them. The scene was so unexpected and bizarre that they simply stood there slack-jawed as other students came running in a panicked mass toward the street. Common sense seemed to hit them all at once and they started fleeing with the other kids.

Odd bumped into Aelita as they rushed away from the school. Her eyes were wild with disbelief and he shouted to her as they ran, "That's got to be the thing Janika talked about—the monster with the tentacles and all that. They were telling the truth!"

She shook her head emphatically. "No, it's just a trick or something."

"But shouldn't we go talk to them? Ulrich, don't _you_ think we should find them?"

The brown-haired boy almost shuddered and didn't bother to answer. Jeremy looked nervous too.

"Don't tell me you guys are scared!"

"No, I just don't want to," the boy with glasses said. "I'm not going anywhere near that factory, so don't try to convince me."

"Me neither," Yumi said behind them.

Odd threw them dirty looks and then split off from the crowd. If they wouldn't ask Janika and William about the monster at school, _he_ would.

%*%

The canyon twisted and then broke off in three different directions. Hopper quickly headed down the left path and they followed on their vehicles. There was a screech from above as a Manta came swooping down, firing its lasers twice. The shots missed, but they could hear the other monsters in pursuit, called by the Manta's signal.

Around the corner they came in sight of sanctuary: a Tower nestled between the ledges of rock.

They aimed for it but Janika faltered on the Overwing, nearly plowing into the canyon wall as she seemed to reel in near-shock. Hopper went in first then the others pulled the Overwing and Overbike to a halt, diving for the entrance as more lasers were heard behind. William grunted and his thigh sparked from an attack.

Janika ran to the edge of the main platform then bit her lip, muttering, "I really hope I'm right…"

"About what?" William wondered from his spot by the exit.

"The recording Jeremy left. I thought he said 'power', but what if it was 'Tower'? Aelita is the only one who can really manipulate data here, and if I do it without her who knows what could happen?"

"Is there much choice?"

"I don't think so. Just pray the Tower doesn't explode or something." She raised her hand and an interface appeared. The first thing it asked for was identification and she entered her name. Immediately a document opened and Hopper floated over almost excitedly (for a ball, anyway). He was so close that Janika could hear his words.

_The algorithm! Yes…this is everything and only missing minor keys. May I?_

"Um, sure."

The girl stepped back and watched as changes were made throughout Jeremy's multi-agent program. In less than a minute it was ready, and a good thing too, because there was a flash of red light and the entire Tower shook. Both Warriors were thrown to the floor, William nearly rolling off the side.

"They're attacking the Tower! What should we do, Hopper?"

_Carthage is the only place this program can be activated, but I cannot do it myself. The two of you may not be able to transfer there without Jeremy to transport you directly._

"Are you saying one of us has to be devirtualized and then send the other alone to Sector 5?"

Before the ball could answer, there was another voice. "Hello? Is this thing a mike or something?"

"_Odd?_" This additional surprise nearly made Janika lose her footing as another shockwave hit the Tower. The boy heard her startled cry and asked if everything was alright. "I'm fine so far, but what are you doing in the factory? Is Jeremy with you?"

"No, I'm the only one. Nobody else wanted to come. Where are you?"

"See that big glowing sphere next to you in the lab? William and I have been digitized into that. There isn't time to explain but we need your help. Hopper, can you send him a set of simple directions to send us both to Sector 5 from this Tower?"

Despite his usual ineptitude at anything relating to computers, Odd found the instructions fairly straightforward. He couldn't type fast, of course, but he was encouraged to speed things up when he heard Janika cry out from another attack on their refuge.

"This Tower isn't going to last much longer," William said warningly. "Odd, you'd better pick up the pace if you don't want to be picking up our pieces instead."

"I'm _trying!_ It's almost done…"

The girl looked over at their newest companion and said, "Wait, what about you, Hopper? How are you going to get out?"

_Even if the Tower is destroyed I can hide within the darkness below us. XANA's creatures would never look for me there…but I would be unable to assist you in Carthage. You will both be on your own._

She nearly stumbled back in shock. If he wasn't going to be there to make sure she didn't mess up… Could she really do it accurately enough to complete the program and destroy XANA?

Before there was time for her to say another word, Janika and William felt themselves dissolve, a moment later reappearing in the arena of Carthage. After a few seconds of disorientation they saw part of the wall had opened, allowing further exploration.

The cheetah-Warrior didn't know anything about Sector 5 so William was the guide. Since the terrain was never the same twice, she wasn't sure how he could act as a 'guide' exactly, but within the first minute she found out.

"Drop!" William yelled as something slid out of the wall toward them.

She slid into the space between two gray-blue blocks. The sheet of clear substance was thin but it sliced over her head with a sharp noise that made her think it might take off a limb if she was too slow to get out of the way.

The girl stood up slowly and looked around for her friend. The strip of ice (or whatever it was) was about five feet wide and half an inch thick, and even as she stared at it, another sound came from behind. She did a wild back spring, just narrowly avoiding a second one. She landed on top of the first and promptly slipped, falling on her side.

William had been harassed by a couple as well, though he avoided them easily enough, but the look on his face seemed to say something wasn't right. "Odd, is there anything on the screen?"

"Um, yeah. Some kind of countdown, I guess. It showed up as soon as you guys entered the place. It says you have two minutes and three seconds."

He gritted his teeth and made his way toward Janika, dodging another ice sheet as he did so. "XANA must have changed something. Jeremy was able to get rid of the countdown when he rebuilt Carthage, but now it's back. We've got to find the key and hit it before our time is up. Janika, look for a button on the wall."

She lost no time, darting along the wall and scanning every surface. Every so often she would jump or duck to avoid one of the protrusions, but she nearly lost her tail when two came at her from different directions at once. The whole room seemed to be filling with icy plates.

Her foot slipped when she half-landed on one, and then she barely managed to flatten herself against a shallow depression in the wall in time to avoid another as it came at her from above. But then Janika couldn't squeeze out! The space between the main wall and the ice was too narrow and she couldn't get up high enough to climb over. She beat her fists against it, but the noises were hardly audible.

William was using his sword to block one of the ice plates and it seemed to be working, but he was too distracted to hear her. One hand went to her belt and for the first time she looked at her weapons.

Janika remembered them being fairly simple and effective, but as soon as she took off a star, it expanded into a larger shuriken with a red jewel in the center and five wickedly curved claws. But there wasn't time to admire it.

Not wasting another second, she raised her hand back as far as she could and then brought the weapon against the ice with a loud _shing!_ that caught William's attention at once. He threw himself away from the dangerous glassy plates that were hassling him and wove between about ten others to reach her. Not without slipping, unfortunately, but that's to be expected when his sword weighed more than himself.

He checked to make sure there weren't any more coming straight at him, then he swung his broadsword in an arc directly at her. Janika crouched down and covered her head, then there was a crack and she was suddenly covered in ice shards.

The boy grabbed her arm and pulled her out, but as she looked up to thank him, her eyes focused beyond him. "That's it way up on the ceiling, right?"

He looked up and caught sight of it. "Yeah! We just have to figure out how to get there."

"Are you very strong?" she wondered. "I mean strong enough to throw me up there."

The boy looked at her doubtfully, then pulled her aside as another sheet of ice veered toward them. "I'm not so sure. That's a long shot."

"How about just halfway?"

"I think so."

"Okay. I really hope my idea works. Odd, how much time is left?"

"About thirty seconds."

She let out a shocked noise. "You could have given us a little warning! Do it now, William!"

Without further ado he dropped his sword, which thoughtfully vanished, and then grabbed her wrists, swinging around as quick as he could until her feet were well off the ground. Another of the strange obstacles came zooming straight at them, but before she could do more than gasp, William's grip loosened and she was flying straight upward!

Janika curled herself into a ball and felt for a shuriken. As she came to the peak of her flight, she straightened out and took aim. The weapon flew in a direct line and struck the key, pressing it into the ceiling.

**Honestly I can't remember if they have to ****physically**** touch the key or not, but I figured it was worth a shot. Besides, it is a little unfair to have the thing on the ceiling. That's just mean!**


	5. Challenge

**Chapter 5: Challenge**

As the girl fell, she saw all the icy plates in the room begin to recede and by the time she landed (with catlike grace, naturally), they were gone entirely.

"Hey, you guys had fifteen seconds to spare," Odd's voice came over. "Um, I think there's a new passage opening on the left. Do you see it?"

The wall on one side split, revealing a path to the outside of the Core. Without exchanging any words, the two Warriors raced along the corridor until they came to the elevator. It was a tricky jump, but William timed it right and they made it.

"I'm surprised XANA hasn't sent any of his minions our way. Do you think he's planning something?" the cheetah-girl wondered, her tail twitching nervously as they rode the elevator.

"I wouldn't be surprised. It's rare when he doesn't know what we're up to. That's one thing I definitely remember from my slavery and I doubt anything has changed much since then."

"What should we do?"

Just then the elevator came to a jerky stop and a new passage opened before them. "Just keep a lookout. I'll do what I can to protect you, but I really hope Hopper's program works. From what I remember, Aelita is the only one with any real access to the files in XANA's memory."

"But we don't need that, do we? All we're after is general access to upload the file."

"You never know what you'll need," he threw over his shoulder.

They crossed the bridge, coming out into the Celestial Dome, and Janika raised her hand to touch the interface. It appeared and after a moment the confusing array of diagrams, graphs, and charts started to make sense. She adjusted them, combining several screens that were monitoring something she didn't need to waste time worrying about, and found the mainframe system that connected to all the Towers on Lyoko. She searched for Jeremy's program and then entered her name. It became visible and she quickly inserted it into the main window—but then the digital screen froze.

"Oh no…" She scanned the uploading bar and her heart dropped into her stomach. "This can't be happening… There's not enough power to activate it."

"How much do you need?"

"At least fifty gigajoules. Too much to add manually even if we had someplace to get it." She kicked at nothing and then her catlike ears twitched. "And now XANA is sending his welcoming committee our way."

Three Mantas came flying around the side of the dome, firing as soon as they were in sight of their prey. With hardly any place to take cover, Janika wasn't able to dodge fast enough and a shot hit her in the side. William grabbed her before she could fall off the edge of their platform and then barely managed to avoid another laser as the creatures kept coming.

"Can you defend me while I try to think of something?"

He nodded and used his sword to deflect any shots that got too close. The teenage girl shut her eyes tight and concentrated. Less than thirty seconds later she had an idea. It was risky, but it was the best one she could come up with on such short notice.

"William, I really hope you don't hate me for this, but right now it's all-or-nothing. I've got to get XANA to throw everything he has at us."

"Do you even know what that _means?_" he asked with a fair amount of distress.

"I have a plan!"

She turned back to the interface and opened a new window, encrypting it so that XANA wouldn't be able to find out what she was sending to Odd. She tried to make it as simple as possible for him by typing out all the data and asking him to _copy&paste_ it into the proper program.

All she could do was thank her lucky stars that Jeremy had sent her those modules to finish. Even better was the fact that she'd sweated over it so long that the formula had practically been burned into her mind.

As soon as Odd confirmed the data was entered, she looked down and saw one of her weapons change. It glowed slightly. At least it _seemed_ to be working properly so far. Jeremy never did check it for bugs due to his already-overwhelming workload, so if there were any problems with it…

"Okay Odd, you did great, but now I need you to find the small black window in the upper left-hand corner. Type 'overboard-dash-William', push Enter. Then 'overwing-dash-Janika' and push Enter again. Got that?"

"Pretty sure. Do I need to capitalize anything?"

"The first letters in our names."

"Is that 'Janika' with a J or a G?"

"_Odd!_"

"Alright, alright! I was just kidding, you know. They should be there in a second."

None too soon, either. The Overboard was better for William since it was easier to use his sword without also using his hands to steer, then he took off after the flying Mantas. While he hunted each one down and took it out, Janika turned back to the digital console and opened communications directly with their enemy.

"XANA," she said with as close to a cocky grin as she could get, "not even your worst monster can stop us and you know it. In a matter of minutes you'll be history. Give me your _best shot!_"

There was no response for a moment and she wondered if he even bothered to acknowledge her dare. Then suddenly there was a fold in the fabric of the outer layer of Sector 5. It widened and widened to admit the head of a giant creature with a black exoskeleton and lava-like skin boiling underneath.

William gaped. "You baited him into sending the Kolossus!"

Even Janika was rendered speechless as the giant let out a deep roar like an earthquake. Aelita had told her XANA's new monster was a real killer—but she hadn't been descriptive enough.

"William, do you think you can distract it while I go for its target?"

"It has two, Janika," he called as he swooped closer on the Overboard. "We can't see its left arm yet, but that's where it is. Do you want me to attack its face?"

"Sure, but just make sure I do the killing blow, alright? It's _not_ for my self-esteem! It's the only way to accomplish what we came here to do."

The boy cracked a half-smile her way before zooming off to harry the monster. She followed a second after, just pausing long enough to make sure she had the special shuriken in hand, then she and her Overwing headed for their new enemy.

The wall continued to split open, this time to allow the Kolossus's arm through. Its size and weight seemed to slow it down, but it swung the sword in an unalterable path directly toward the main dome. There was a thick crunching sound and Janika looked back to see a slice had been chopped right out of Carthage. It looked like XANA knew he couldn't go after them directly, but if he destroyed the dome all their plans would be in shambles anyway.

Two more Mantas came sailing toward William, distracting him from the major problem emerging out of the wall. But he couldn't let himself get hit from behind simply because they were less of a threat than the Kolossus.

Its chest was nearly all inside now, and its large blade-arm slowly started pulling free of the wide gash in Sector 5's dome. They had to stop it before it took out the area where the interface was!

Janika veered toward William's attackers and made sure her special shuriken was stashed safely away (she would have been more impressed that her old straps were replaced by a magnetized belt if there had been time to admire the feature in less pressing circumstances). Wielding one of her ordinary weapons, she began tailing one that was firing at her companion.

The Manta arced upward, trying to get behind her, but Janika swerved aside and rose to meet it. Before its laser was fully-charged she threw her shuriken directly at its nose—and the effect it produced could be easily compared to a plugged rifle being fired: the manta exploded in all directions.

Meanwhile William had managed to rid himself of his own tagalong and refocused his efforts on the Kolossus, driving his broadsword directly into the middle of its face. There was a rumbling growl from the monster, then it slowed to a complete stop. Janika took the opportunity to leap onto its arm. She carefully made her way to the blade and saw three smaller targets beside the large one.

She attacked the little ones with her glowing shuriken, then stared at the final target for a split second (relishing the victory) before stabbing her weapon directly into its center. The monster groaned another roar before its body began to go limp, the lava fading slowly to black, and it started slipping back through the wall where it came from. Her shuriken's glow turned red as she raced to the tip of the Kolossus's arm, only to find she couldn't see the Overwing.

"Janika!" William called as he came flying up toward her.

She looked back and saw the wall looming too close, so she took a running leap off the edge, meeting the other Lyoko Warrior in midair. He held her by the middle and headed back toward the interface.

"Did you get what you needed?"

"More than we'll ever use. XANA used power from many different supercomputers to make that thing, so I just absorbed it all into my shuriken. I'm pretty sure it's the answer to our problem. Hurry up!"

He pulled to a halt beside the interface and she jumped off, raising the weapon until it touched the frozen screen. Instantly it glowed blue as her energy-thievery module funneled hundreds of gigajoules directly into the stalled program. Instantly the multi-agent system activated.

Glowing sparks swept out of Lyoko's Core, multiplying and seeking out all XANA's creatures and supercomputers.

"Hey, Janika?" Odd's voice came over their link. "A new box just popped up. All these little glowing things are turning black, or whatever. Is that a good or bad thing?"

William grinned at her. "His control over the supercomputers in the world is lost. _Definitely_ a good thing."

%*%

The Scyphozoa still chasing students at the school spasmed, its tentacles lashing in every direction. A screech issued from its body as it twisted and writhed, then a plume of dark mist rose from it, contorting into something like a face crying out in pain…then it drifted away.

XANA was finally gone for good.

**Personally I think using XANA's own monster against him was an awesome idea, and the kind of thing I don't think they did very often in the series…if at all. Why is it sometimes I can come up with better plots than them?**

**Sorry I've been out of the loop for so long. I would have updated this a while back, but I was feeling so terrible at the end of the year and then just simply dead tired most of this year that I just never seemed to get around to working on any of my fics. I guess that's what happens when you get pregnant. My husband is so ecstatic!**


	6. What Happened After

**Chapter 6: What Happened After**

Less than a mile from the factory there was a group of children in the park alongside a stream. Suddenly Aelita, Jeremy, Yumi and Ulrich stopped running and looked at each other in shock.

"I think we were just…" Jeremy began confusedly.

"At the factory, right?" Ulrich asked. "Weren't we on Lyoko?"

"Yeah," his 'girlfriend' agreed, "but something happened… I think we were caught in a trap by the…"

"Scyphozoas!"

At the name, everyone suddenly remembered with utmost clarity what happened on Lyoko and afterward. They knew their actions had been dictated by the monsters, but they couldn't help feeling embarrassed. Janika and William had tried to talk to them and they did nothing but laugh.

"What about my father?" Aelita began running again and the others hurried after her.

They were nearly to the factory when they came in sight of their friends. They faced each other, some appearing more sheepish than others.

William was kind enough to break the silence gently. "Hey, your program worked perfectly, Jeremy."

"My father!" Aelita took a step forward anxiously, biting her lip and almost begging for good news. "What—what about him?"

Janika gave a little smile. "Relax. With XANA gone, it's only a matter of time before we're able to materialize him too. He's looking forward to seeing you again, Aelita."

The whole group seemed to let out its breath together and the collective sound made them glance at each other, then start laughing. The atmosphere lightened and they began sharing their separate stories about the Scyphozoa capture on Lyoko, the attack on the school, suddenly waking up with no memories, then all the events that followed. Ulrich didn't even seem bothered by the fact that William used his Overbike.

"Looks like we owe you big time," Ulrich said to William.

He grinned back. "Yeah, you do. But then again if you guys hadn't been so dead set against my involvement I would have been caught in the trap with you."

"That isn't really an excuse for our conduct," Aelita pointed out. "But at least the circumstances worked out favorably in spite of our mistake."

"And if Odd hadn't been there we would have been toast," Janika added.

Jeremy was still preoccupied with something. "What I don't understand is how Odd was able to push through the Scyphozoa's influence and go to the factory. I don't know about the rest of you, but whenever I thought about the factory I felt—well, not scared, but I really, really, _really_ didn't want to go anywhere near it."

Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi nodded, and strangely so did Odd.

"But," the Japanese girl started, "if you felt the same way we did, how did you manage to go anyway? No matter what happened, I wouldn't have gone there."

There was a hint of embarrassment about their friend now and the whole group leaned forward expectantly.

"I just…it wasn't the factory I was thinking about," he said shortly without meeting anyone's eyes.

A flicker of confusion passed over everyone's face—except for Janika's. She looked away but couldn't hide the pink beginning to color her cheeks.

Odd shrugged and gave the group a half-smile. "It doesn't really matter that much anyway. XANA's dead and we can go back to our normal lives. And…" he tried to sound upbeat, "…William can have Janika. No hard feelings."

The silence that followed his statement was long enough for Odd to realize he'd said something wrong.

"Did it occur to you," William began after a minute, "that I might not _want_ her?"

"But I thought she and you were—"

"In cahoots? We had to be since the rest of you were brainwashed. I hardly _know_ her so how could I be interested in more than friendship? I'm not the one she likes."

Odd glanced sidelong at her and stammered, "But you never said anything to me. I thought you wanted to end our relationship."

"Why do you think she emailed you all the time?" Yumi broke in.

"And sent you a box of Belgian chocolates on your birthday," Aelita said.

"And sat next to you in the cafeteria," Ulrich said.

"And is blushing right now instead of socking you in the jaw," Jeremy added.

He looked at each one of them in turn, wondering how they could see all these near-invisible clues. Finally he focused on Janika. "Are they right? Am I really that dense?"

Smiling green eyes met his. "As a brick."

"Hey, why don't we skip school to celebrate XANA's destruction?" Ulrich suggested. "We can do a little time traveling to make up for it later."

"I second that idea!"

"Me too."

Odd looked at them. "You know, I think Janika and I will catch up with you guys later. It's been forever since we had time to talk to each other."

The others exchanged loaded glances. "Ooooookaaay," William said slowly. "See you later then."

They peeled away from the rest of the gang and Janika couldn't help asking what he had planned.

"You pick whatever restaurant you like and we'll go there. Money is no object."

"Really? You're willing to spend that much on me?" she couldn't keep the skepticism off her face.

"Hey, we'll be going back in time, remember? Free food!"

She laughed and flushed a little as he took her hand. Long-distance relationship or not, they would find a way to work things out…even if she had to use her wings to meet him instead of taking the bus.

_**THE END**_

**At last the story is complete! Really. This is the end. I won't add anything else. Probably.**


End file.
